By SAVANNAH ROGERS

Staff Writer

Baby's first Christmas.

Finally, as a new mom, I get to join the ranks of the lucky ones who have that special page in their family scrapbook.

For the first time, this year I too got to dress up my little precious cherub in his finest red velvet Christmas duds and have his picture taken with Santa. We, like hundreds of other crazy new and veteran moms and their charges, queued up in front of Braelinn Village and waited more than two hours for that token two minutes on the big, red, jolly guy's coveted lap.

Nicolas has already fallen asleep a couple of times under the blinking Christmas tree lights, and he lovingly gums a stuffed reindeer rattle bearing the words "Baby's First Christmas."

Of course my 4-month-old son won't remember any of these special things, but I know he will one day cherish the photos.

The overkill of presents for the little guy has already begun. (Not that I mind at all. Besides, I'm the one who gets to open them!) My sister and her mother-in-law both forced us to open a few last week, since we would be going out of town for the holiday. Here in Phoenix, where my husband Matt's family lives, presents for Nicolas continue to stack up under the tree.

I'm afraid to think about what Santa may do. I have resisted many of the traditional holiday things, knowing we'd be out of town. Like we didn't put up any Christmas lights or a tree at our house, and we planned on Santa just bringing one utilitarian item ­ a bigger car seat ­ once we returned home. I certainly didn't write to Santa to tell him we would be gone. But I don't know whether Matt's family has invited him here or not.

Matt and I plan to carry on at least one tradition followed by both our families ­ we open all the family presents on Christmas Eve, before Santa comes. Hopefully this year Matt's Italian family will teach me how to sing carols in Italian. Traditions we plan to start with our new family are to read the Christmas story from the chapter of Luke in the Bible, and attend Christmas Eve church services.

We also look forward to explaining to our children the real reason Christmas exists.

It is not celebrated in order to get gifts, visit family or take a break from school. Christmas is the time we remember and thank God for the greatest, most important present we will ever receive ­ the gift of eternal life and fellowship with our heavenly Father through faith in His sacrificed son, Jesus Christ. It was on this day almost 2,000 years ago that our Savior was born for the sole purpose of bearing the punishment for the sins you and I continue to commit.

For that reason, we celebrate! We sing carols and praise His name. Our adorable little children put on wonderful Christmas plays to share this message with our family and friends. (Boy, I can't wait for that!) We send out cards and put up nativity scenes.

And after the holidays are over, the wrapping paper is thrown away and families have gone their separate ways, I hope this year a few more of the special people in Nicolas' life will have decided to accept and unwrap that one, special gift that makes all the difference. I hope you will, too.

Merry Christmas!

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